30
by NPD18
Summary: Samantha's birthday, just after her and Martin fall out, but make up again. Why is she crying on her birthday though? Spoilers: Manhunt (s3) couple: MartinSamantha
1. My birthday, I'll cry if I want to

30 

**A/N: **Loosely as a follow up to the episode 'Manhunt' (S3) except that I've only seen clips and not really much of the rest of that season, but hey, I can improvise! Basically… Samantha and Martin have had an argument (those of you who've seen 'Manhunt' will recognize it). I may have the facts wrong… especially family wise… but like I said, I haven't seen season 3 so I may not have found out stuff I should have or whatever! This is just going to be a couple of chapters… don't expect anything long.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of it… not a sausage… zilch!

**PROLOGUE:**

_She felt terrible, knowing it was all her fault made it even worse, and now he was blanking her, walking straight past her as if she wasn't there. It was like he'd ripped out her heart, spat on it, chewed it up and puked it out. She'd brought it on herself, but it didn't change anything. She just didn't see how he could not understand how she felt. Taking a deep breath, she followed him out._

"_Martin!" Running in heels having just got changed, not the best idea, "Martin wait!"_

_He stopped, turned and looked at her. There was no expression on his face, and his eyes had lost the shine that was usually there when he looked at Samantha. Nevertheless, he didn't turn back around, or try to continue on, leaving her._

"_Can we please talk? Look, I am sorry, I didn't… I don't…" Now that she'd finally caught up with him, she didn't know what to say, and by now, tears were slowly running down her cheeks._

_His face softened, and for a split second he forgot what they'd been arguing about in the first place, wrapping his arms around Samantha. Then he remembered again, but continued to stroke her head gently, murmuring words that she didn't quite catch._

"_It's okay… I understand. I'm not going to tell anyone, not until you're ready,"_

Samantha woke up, blonde hair covering her face, only one eye open, and reaching for the comfort of the pillow next to her. It wasn't there. Well, the pillow was, but the comfort most certainly wasn't. An awful thought came to her. _What if that was just a dream? _She sunk back into the pillow, pulling the covers over her head and hoping to fall back asleep.

"Sam?"

Groaning, but not in a bad way, if that's possible, she lifted the covers, looking up at the man standing over the bed. He looked so handsome in this light, it was unbelievable. Sandy brown hair shone in the sunlight, and sparkling blue eyes glittered as they looked contently at Samantha. She smiled.

"Morning… wait… what's this?" She looked confused at the wooden tray piled with food which Martin had carefully placed in front of her.

"Birthday breakfast!"

Sam laughed, eyeing the pancakes, burnt toast, and cereal swimming in too much milk. _It's the thought that counts… I guess. _"I thought you'd forgotten!"

"How could I forget?" He leant in and kissed her gently, "What kind of rubbish boyfriend do you think I am?"

Grinning, she picked up the tray and set it down on her lap, poking at the pancakes with her fork. Martin smiled, leaning across her to drop a pile of letters and cards onto the pillow next to her. Taking a second to look at what he was doing, Samantha smiled back at him, finding herself unable to stop being happy.

"You read your mail and I'll go get you something to drink… coffee or juice?"

Sam thought for a moment, "Orange juice would be great, thank you,"

Whilst Martin went downstairs to fetch her something to drink, she started to open the first envelope on the pile, finding a card from her old high school friend, Mia, who never seemed to forget a birthday. Next was one from one of her old boyfriends, and then her ex-husband – weird! She'd just gotten through the pile, when Martin came back, a glass in his hand.

"Here's your… what's wrong!"

Seeing Samantha sitting in bed, crying, he leaned over her, letting her flop onto his shoulder, tears still falling down her cheeks. The cards and letters were clutched in her hand, all of them opened. Neither of them said a word, the only sound in the room was Samantha's sniffs every now and then, until she sat up, her cheeks tear stained.

"It's stupid… I didn't even expect them to… why would they anyway?" She rubbed her eyes with one hand, "I'm just being silly. I don't even know why I was crying, sorry,"

"Who?"

Sam looked embarrassed, "My mom, my sister… my family,"

Martin put an arm around her, kissing the top of her head lightly. She'd never really mentioned her family; it seemed nobody knew why they never spoke. Everybody knew everything when it came to Martin's parents, especially his father… but that was a whole new story, and one he'd rather not go into. It was hard to understand what Sam was going through, and harder still to see her cry like that.

"I just expected them to at least remember it, since it is my th…"

"Oh no you don't! Nobody is mentioning that number at all today!" Martin grinned, letting Samantha sit up properly, "And now…"

Just as he was about to finish, Sam's cell phone interrupted them, ringing from inside her purse, under the bed. He gestured for her to ignore it, but shaking her head; she reached under and took it out. Acknowledging that it was Viv, and therefore probably important, she answered it.

"Viv? Yeah… okay… want me to tell Martin? He ummm… slept on the couch… yeah okay… bye Viv," She pulled a face, flipping her cell phone closed, and putting it back in her purse, before turning to Martin, "We have to go in. They need us,"


	2. Surprises, Conga Lines & Holding Hands

30 

**A/N: **Thanks to those who've reviewed :D You guys are awesome! I think this fic may end up longer than I thought it was going to be…

I'm sorry if Sam's sister already has a name (well obviously she does, but you know what I mean) but I don't think she does… at least I don't know it… so I had to make it up.

I think I ruined the fic with this chapter:S

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of it… not a sausage… zilch!

**Thanks to: **Beci for lending me 'spud' :D

The sun was so bright that Samantha found herself having to shield her eyes with one hand as she walked quickly into the office. _Hasn't anyone heard of pulling the blinds? _Usually, she'd arrive at work, and everyone would be crowded around, busily talking, or they'd be out at a crime scene or whatever, which was where she'd have to meet them. Today was different. Apart from Martin, who was just behind her, Samantha didn't see anyone really… and the whole place was quiet, so much so that she could hear the slight whirring of the copy machine.

"Seems sort of quiet… wonder what's going on," Sam observed, nodding towards the woman at reception.

"SURPRISE!"

Even though he knew it was coming, Martin still jumped, dropping his keys as Danny, Viv and Jack all popped out from inside, or rather Danny popped out and Jack and Viv half heartedly stepped out. Sam grinned.

"Oh very funny… so what's going on? Where do we..."

"Nothing," Danny interrupted, "As long as nobody in New York goes missing for the next 5 hours or so, it's party time!"

Sam shook her head, "You guys are mad,"

Jack stepped forward, a smile spread across his usually dim looking face. He was holding a pile of presents, all carefully wrapped. Handing them over to her, he kissed her cheek, "Happy Birthday,"

"We're not going anywhere special… just staying here. But we do have some more surprises for you!" Danny looked like he was more excited than Sam was.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Samantha laughed, sipping her drink

"Maybe… you mean you're not having fun?"

She shook her head, holding Martin's hand under the table, and hoping nobody could see which as far as she could tell, they couldn't. It was a bit strange that here she was at her party, and she was sitting down, while Danny, Viv and some of the other people from the offices were doing the conga. _Okay, that's weird, _she thought. But it didn't matter to her; she was happy right where she was.

"It's perfect thanks," Smiling, she finished up her drink.

"Sam!" Danny came over, breaking the conga line, "Your surprise is here!"

Quickly letting go of Martin's hand, she stood up, "As if I haven't had enough surprises for one day!"

Laughing, Martin covered her eyes gently with both hands, whilst Danny led her towards the door way, in which was standing a blonde woman. The two guys looked at each other, smiling. _She's not going to believe her eyes, _Martin decided, _Can't wait to see the look on her face_.

The woman was dressed in a black top with dark jeans, and a black jacket thrown over the top. Her features, which were soft, and slightly tanned, reminded Martin of Sam's, except that this girl had green eyes, and less freckles than Samantha. Definitely looked like Sam though, the hair was a give away, a golden shade just like the blonde agent's. It wasn't like they could be twins or anything… but there was a resemblance.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now," Martin removed his hands from her face.

"Than…" She paused, her eyes widening, "No way… can't be…"

The woman grinned, "Hey Spud!"

Samantha flung her arms round her, tears running down her face, "Beech, what are you doing here!"

"A little birdie told me it was your birthday… God, I haven't been called Beech for donkey's years! Hey, hey, no tearies allowed!"

"Happy tearies!" Sam exclaimed.

Samantha stepped back, rubbing her face on the back of her hand, still looking at her older sister like she couldn't believe her eyes. They hadn't seen each other for so long, she was surprised she even recognised her. It wasn't until she'd blinked a good 20 times that she noticed the small girl hiding a few paces behind Breanna, blonde hair over her face.

"And who's this?" She knelt down, looking at the little girl, and then looking up at Breanna.

"Oh, this is Ava, my daughter. I left Harry back home… a bit far for him to travel at his age," Ava slowly walked forward towards her mom.

Martin looked down at Sam, admiring the way her eyes lit up when she saw the little girl. One day, he hoped they could have a daughter as beautiful, but he knew that day was far away if it ever came at all. Sighing, he turned back to Danny, who was still talking non-stop about the baseball game he'd been watching.

"She's beautiful," Turning to Ava, she smiled, "How old are you sweetie?"

"Four and a half," The girl looked shy, but spoke with a strong Australian accent; much like the one her mother seemed to have picked up.

Samantha stood up again, watching as Breanna swept her daughter up into her arms, both of them laughing. It was so cute; she couldn't help but wear a smile stretching almost from ear to ear.

"So you guys moved to Australia then?" It was so weird, but in a good way, speaking to each other after so many years.

"Yeah I know! I was like 'Feey Wa-Wa!'" Breanna couldn't stop laughing, and neither could her sister.

"Stupid flight attendants!" In hysterics, she'd completely forgotten about Ava asleep on her lap, who was now stirring, "Did you work out what it was?"

Breanna nodded, still laughing, "Fizzy water!"

Not wanting to interrupt the sisters, Martin stood waiting for them to pause for a moment so he could talk, but he'd already been waiting for about 3 minutes, and decided there wasn't much point in waiting any longer.

"Breanna…" He started, but was interrupted.

"Call me Bree, everyone else does," She grinned, "Yes?"

Martin nodded, "Bree, there's a phone call for you… Clarke is it?"

"Oh right, thanks honey," Bree stood up, looking at Samantha, "You alright to hold on to Ava for me?"

Sam nodded, and Bree left towards the phone. Carefully, as not to wake Ava, Martin sat down next to Samantha. Before he could say a word, she leant into him, her mouth up to his ear.

"I love you Marty," She whispered.

"I love you too,"

**A/N:** Was that awful? And should I finish it here or do one more chapter:S


	3. Uncle Marty

30 

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone's reviews, I'm back for one last chapter lol. Hopefully this chapter will make sense, though I haven't really planned. Plus, I just realized that Sam's niece has the same name as Martin's cousin… but oh well! This chapter is probably going to be quite short, sorry!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of it… not a sausage… zilch!

As she watched her sister laughing on the phone, Samantha smiled, realizing just how lucky she was. Lucky to have friends who arranged surprises like this, lucky to be auntie to a beautiful kid like Ava, lucky to be dating Martin, even lucky to be 30! She'd completely forgotten about the argument Martin and she had had, and didn't flinch at the fact that he had her arm around her shoulders, and that everyone could see.

"You look cold," He murmured, slipping her jacket over the top of her work blouse,

"I was… thanks,"

Ava began to stir on her auntie's lap, and opened one sparkling green eye, looking up at Samantha. Grinning, Sam helped the little girl to sit up, running a hand through the child's blonde curls. Ava yawned. _I guess it has been a long day, _Sam thought, holding out her niece's sweater whilst she stuck a skinny arm through the hole… the wrong hole. Laughing, Martin gently pulled Ava's arm out of the hole for her head, and back into the sleeve.

"Thanks Uncle Marty," She'd said it before Sam could stop herself, a huge grin spread across her face.

"I like your badge Auntie Samantha, what does it say?"

Whilst Sam explained what was on her FBI badge, Martin stood up and crossed over to where Bree had just hung up the phone. She was looking across to her sister, watching with a beaming face.

"I wish we didn't have to go back to Australia,"

Martin nodded, "She's going to miss you guys,"

"I promised I wouldn't stay over here too long though, Clarke will go mad if I leave Harry with him much longer though," She sighed, "We'll have to visit again, when Harry's a little older. He's too young to come all this way,"

Martin moved his eyes from the happy scene going on in front of him, and back to Breanna. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she was keeping them back, sniffing every so often, "I know she'd like that,"

"Who would?"

Bree and Martin turned at the same time to see Samantha stood behind them, Ava in her arms, a sleepy look across the 4-year-old's face. Taking her daughter from Sam, Breanna walked away, leaving the couple alone. But not for long.

"Sam, Martin, I just wanted to say how happy I am that you guys are together, cause hey I care about you both a lot, and I've never seen you happier than when you're together," Danny squeezed in between them, an arm round each of his friends.

"Ummm thanks Danny…"

She waited for Danny to leave before turning to Martin, "You told them didn't you? How could you Martin!"

"I… I didn't… they guessed… I swear,"

Strangely, now that their secret was revealed, and all her friends had assured her that they weren't going to say a word, Sam felt much better than before when she had had to hide the fact that she was happy. It had been different when she was 'with' Jack, it was frowned upon and it'd been awful it had gotten out. This also could have a bad effect on Sam's job if it got out, but at least everyone was glad for them, even Jack.

"They are staying for a week, in a hotel downtown," Sam explained, sitting almost on Martin's lap in the back of a cab.

He studied her face, "You're really going to miss them when they go, aren't you?"

Nodding, Sam snuggled into Martin, not wanting to discus her sister and niece's leaving just yet. She didn't know when they were going to go exactly, or when they'd be back, but she did know one thing; that she was going to miss them more than she could ever imagine. Not knowing that Ava was even born had been bad enough, but that way she hadn't been missing her, just missing Beech, but now it was worse.

"Marty,"

"Yes Spud?" He chuckled, remembering Sam's slightly odd nickname.

"Thank you,"

"For what? I didn't do all of this you know, Danny and Viv helped and Jack…"

Sam placed a hand on his mouth, "Shhh,"

He did as she said, kissing the top of her head, both of them closing their eyes. It may have been the best birthday ever, but Sam was looking forward to the best sleep ever, she was pooped out from all that partying and excitement. Ready for the short journey back to her house, Sam fell asleep in Martin's arms, the fact that she'd just turned 30 a complete blur to her.

THE END


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